Victoria 199 (Harris 109, O'Keefe 8-77) and 280 (Dean 106, Maxwell 33, Copeland 5-59) beat New South Wales 171 (Patterson 43, Fawad 3-32) and 285 (Hughes 59, Patterson 53, Fawad 5-94) by 23 runs
Scorecard

Five wickets from legspinner Fawad Ahmed helped Victoria move one step closer to making a fourth successive Sheffield Shield final after a nailbiting win over New South Wales at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.

The Blues needed just 29 runs with three wickets in hand when Fawad turned the game. He had Trent Copeland caught behind with a big, fizzing legbreak. Four balls later he completely deceived Sean Abbott. The Blues quick shouldered arms to a wrong 'un and was clean bowled.

In Fawad's next over he lured Peter Nevill down the track and did him with flight and spin to have the Blues keeper stumped to end the game.

Earlier, the Blues had put themselves in a strong position despite making some mistakes. Daniel Hughes trod on his stumps without adding to his overnight 59. Kurtis Patterson made a half-century before he was run out by Glenn Maxwell while Moises Henriques was trapped in front by Peter Siddle for 49.

The Bushrangers now move seven points clear of the Blues in second spot on the table but there are still two other matches to be completed in the penultimate round.